Characteristics of the Foreign Trade of the Republic of Vietnam (1955-1975)

In order to analyze and clarify the characteristics of the foreign trade of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 1955 to 1975, this research employs historical and logical methods, integrated with interdisciplinary methods such as comparison, statistics, analysis-synthesis, and archival research. The data are analyzed to reconstruct the development process of RVN’s foreign trade while highlighting the influences of political context, economic aid, and warfare. Key issues such as partner markets, commodity structure, trade scale, management mechanisms, and foreign trade infrastructure are examined systematically. The findings reveal that RVN’s foreign trade was highly dependent on U.S. aid, characterized by prolonged trade deficit, reflecting a dependent capitalist economy strongly shaped by war. The role of the Overseas Chinese community and the coexistence of formal and informal economies also emerged as notable features. These results provide a scientific basis for a deeper understanding of the nature of South Vietnam’s economy during 1955-1975 and contribute to enriching the historiography of modern Vietnam’s economic history.